Environmental

Farmers, land managers examine Carbon Farming Initiative

RACHEL ALEMBAKIS  |  FRIDAY, 22 JUN 2012  |  NEWS
As farmers and land managers examine the new structures of the Carbon Farming Initiative (CFI) that will lead to the generation of Australian carbon credit units (ACCUs), industry professionals say a perceived cloud of political and financial uncertainty ...

Mercer: green bonds deserve investment consideration

RACHEL ALEMBAKIS  |  FRIDAY, 22 JUN 2012  |  NEWS
Green bonds have relatively simple structures and credit quality and yield levels similar to AAA bonds, meriting "consideration as an allocation within a fixed interest portfolio," but a lack of issuance depth is a challenge for institutional investors ...

EUAs finance $4.9m in Melbourne environmental retrofits

RACHEL ALEMBAKIS  |  WEDNESDAY, 20 JUN 2012  |  NEWS
Environmental upgrade financing vehicles in the City of Melbourne have funded AU$4.9m in energy and emissions efficiency retrofit programs and are projected to save 5350 tonnes of CO2-e emissions per year, according to the Sustainable Melbourne Fund.

Investors call for management of fugitive methane emissions

RACHEL ALEMBAKIS  |  WEDNESDAY, 20 JUN 2012  |  NEWS
The Investor Group on Climate Change (IGCC) and two other global investor groups are calling on companies to minimise methane emissions from gas and oil production through hydraulic fracturing.

ACSI may name companies with poor sustainability disclosure

RACHEL ALEMBAKIS  |  FRIDAY, 15 JUN 2012  |  NEWS
The vast majority of ASX200 companies do not provide a sufficient level of disclosure on sustainability risk and disclosure "continues to be of questionable quality," according to research from the Australian Council of Superannuation Investors (ACSI).

AGL Energy, First Solar granted $130m for solar project

RACHEL ALEMBAKIS  |  WEDNESDAY, 13 JUN 2012  |  NEWS
AGL Energy and solar photovoltaic manufacturer First Solar will receive an AU$129.7m federal government grant to help finance a 159 megawatt solar power project.

AMP Capital fund buys stake in Indian clean energy company

RACHEL ALEMBAKIS  |  FRIDAY, 8 JUN 2012  |  NEWS
The AMP Capital Asian Giants Infrastructure Fund (AGIF) has purchased a minority stake in clean energy company Shalivahana Green Energy Limited (SGEL) for almost US$29m.

Corporate sustainability commitments rise, CSR action lags

RACHEL ALEMBAKIS  |  FRIDAY, 8 JUN 2012  |  NEWS
More than 1800 companies joined the UN Global Compact in 2011, a 54% increase over 2010 growth figures, but an annual survey showed that while signatories are building environmental and social factors into strategies and policies, there are wide gaps ...

LGS ESG sovereign debt strategy includes green bond tilt

RACHEL ALEMBAKIS  |  WEDNESDAY, 6 JUN 2012  |  NEWS
Local Government Super (LGS) has moved all of its nearly AU$170m government bond allocation to a strategy that explicitly incorporates environmental, social and governance (ESG) analysis into the selection process, including a specific allocation of ...

Clean Energy Regulator and ASIC to work together

RACHEL ALEMBAKIS  |  WEDNESDAY, 6 JUN 2012  |  NEWS
The Clean Energy Regulator (CER) and the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) have signed an agreement outlining how they will manage regulatory responsibilities under the forthcoming carbon pricing regime.